The Donnell-Kay Foundation supports non-profit organizations in early childhood and public education that encourage the development of children who are ready to succeed in school. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. The Foundation does accept concept papers that address statewide educational policy issues.

Examples of organizations (and their missions) we support include:

The Alliance for Quality Teaching: Ensuring Colorado children have a quality teacher in every classroom, every day.

A+ Denver (Citizens for Denver Schools, A+ Citizens Committee): Making Denver's public schools the best in the nation and moving it to the top of the community's agenda. Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB): Advancing excellence in public education through effective leadership by locally elected school boards.

Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE): Supporting the Colorado Superintendent Study and the Accountability Project, led by CASE.

Colorado Children's Campaign: Since 1985, the Colorado Children's Campaign has worked to mobilize individuals and organizations to think and act on behalf of children, with particular attention to the health, education and safety of children most at risk.

Colorado Council on Economic Education: The mission of the Colorado Council on Economic Education (CCEE) promotes and improves economic literacy in Colorado’s schools. The most effective way to provide economic education to the largest number of students is to enhance the knowledge of their teachers. CCEE accomplishes its mission by offering a wide variety of economics classes for teachers. CCEE also provides teachers with numerous economic education curriculum resources for their classrooms.

Colorado Foundation for Families and Children: CFFC has been partnering with others for over a decade to increase the effectiveness of those working directly with families. Families are the solution for improving the lives of children. The Foundation is a nonprofit intermediary agency that builds the capacity of agencies, organizations, programs, communities and individuals. Its future is in teaching others how to work with families effectively. The Foundation provides tailored trainings, customized technical assistance, in-depth research, strengths-based evaluation, culturally sensitive program management, strategic organizational development, and more.

Colorado Succeeds: A non-profit, non-partisan, coalition of business leaders committed to education excellence and preparing every child to succeed in a competitive international environment.

Denver Public Schools: The mission of DPS is to provide all students the opportunity to achieve the knowledge and skills necessary to become contributing citizens in our diverse society.

In addition to district support, Donnell-Kay also provided support for the Pay For Performance Pilot Project which led to the district-wide ratification of a new salary system that will pay teachers for improving student achievement, as well as other accomplishments that closely align their work with DPS instructional goals and priorities.

Metropolitan Organizations of People (MOP): MOP trains volunteer community leaders to re-weave the web of relationships in community so that they can effectively work together across race, class and language barriers to rediscover a common good leading to a higher quality of life for our families, children and neighbors.

Public Education and Business Coalition (PEBC): To cultivate excellence in all public schools so all students succeed in learning and in life.

In addition to supporting the general operation of PEBC, Donnell-Kay also supports the organization's Facing History Project, a nationally acclaimed program that trains public school teachers in the "Facing History and Ourselves" curriculum and supports schools to engage youth in civic action projects through a Leadership mini-grant program.

University of Denver, Ritchie Program for School Leaders: The Ritchie Program for School Leaders responds to the challenging expectations of the role of the school principal and to the learning needs of the candidates aspiring to that role. In light of the increasing pressure for instructional improvement and to increase student achievement, the Ritchie Program provides a framework for immersing students in reflective, experiential, project-based learning that will prepare them to meet the challenges within complex systems.